


Volume I

by garion1500



Series: The Chronicles of Utopia [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Terminator - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Beowulf - Freeform, Crossover, Fantasy, Gen, Gnoll, Golden, Greyhawk, Iuz, Ivid, Machine - Freeform, Oerth, Pelor, Technology, Terminator - Freeform, Utopia, cleric, dragon - Freeform, imperium
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-04
Updated: 2013-04-04
Packaged: 2017-12-07 11:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garion1500/pseuds/garion1500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a dimensional travel device from the Terminator universe lands in the hands of a young man from our world he embarks on a journey that will transform him into something beyond human and grant him the power to create the vast Imperium of Light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Disclaimer: The following work is a work of fiction. It is considered a personal project by the author and is completely non-profit. The characters Asher Walters, Lee Morgenstrom, Michael Landrum, D.A.V.I.S, and others are considered the author's personal property and should not be used except with the explicit consent of said author. Any other character or aspect of this work already in circulation by another party that is used by the author is not the property of the author and should not be considered as such. If any party wishes for any character or aspect of this work to be removed please contact the author for assistance.

 

Chapter 1: Prologue

 

The sun shone brilliantly through the clear blue sky, illuminating the covered walkway next to the street. A row of white marble pillars held up the grey stone ceiling while the sunlight scintillated off the pyrite and other colorful stones embedded in the granite sidewalk. Anti-gravity cars and other vehicles purred softly by with a 'whoosh' over the white stone street as a variety of citizens, some human and some not, walked about in various colored outfits and styles from business suits to suits of armor.

 

One middle-aged man in particular walked steadily down the well-lit pathway clad in the gray robes of the Scriptors. Multiple bands of golden stitch work on the edges of his sleeves, hem, and collar denoted his high rank as the head of the Scriptorium. His hawk-like sharp face was framed by a full head of long white hair kept immaculately neat and combed back in a ponytail. As he walked, his clear blue eyes gazed towards the sky, noting the steady stream of anti-gravity vehicles as they flowed in precise lines about the city's skies. Lowering his gaze slightly, he took in the glittering marble and stone spires of the various governmental buildings, his eyes drawn almost instinctively to the massive cupola of glass and crystal banded by panes of enchanted gold and platinum. Surrounding the cupola, and indeed the entire structure, were faintly mirage-like waves of electrical blue energy that signified the powerful magical wards in place around it. In addition to all manner of magical and divine protections surrounding the building, a powerful force field protected it from physical attack, outlining the miles-wide structure in a faint white glow. Beneath the myriad protections was the Imperial Palace, the heart of the Imperium of Light where its immortal ruler, the Great Father, governed the many planets and realms in various realities under His control.

 

It was not always so large. The Head Scriptor mused idly to himself. In centuries past, it was much smaller and part of a mere city alone in the wilds, loosely connected to the various cities on the continent. Of course, back then, we were not even a united world and the Great Father had only just begun His great work. Now that city has grown so large, the entire planet is one great metropolis and the Imperial Palace is a city in itself!

 

Lowering his gaze even further, he looked across the road to the various statues, bushes, and areas of cut green grass that were laid out in a small park. Smiling softly at the beauty around him, the man continued on to his destination. Nearby, one could see a silver and mithril armored figure of the Imperial Guard while psychic Imperial Inquisitors robed in white with red markings moved among the populace gracefully. Occasionally, if one knew how to look, they would touch an arm in a subtle gesture to ask the person if their assistance was needed, drawn as they were to the person’s psychic turmoil.

 

Focusing his thoughts in other directions, the man continued on to his destination. Though many in the government considered the hawk-faced man little more than a glorified librarian or civil servant, he took his duties to his office seriously and piously.

 

The Great Father would expect no less from any of his servants. He consoled himself. After all, how would our great Imperium function if not for the careful record-keeping we employ? Knowledge is power and we are the repository of all knowledge. Any law or regulation, any book written, any document created in this world or any other under our care is kept here.

 

It was, he admitted privately, a bit of hubris on his part. After all, even with their technological advances and powerful archival systems, such a glut of information could not possibly be contained on a single planet. Even the famous Library planet in another fairly well known universe could not contain every document ever created. Still, he was proud of his work, however menial everyone else considered it. After a few more minutes of walking he came to a large building of steel and stone, the large wooden doors embossed with a large version of the Seal of Imperial Records. Opening the doors, he stepped inside, shutting the doors behind him. Walking across the faux marble floor through the small reception area, he nodded to the receptionist behind her circular desk and walked through a smaller door at the rear of the room. Stepping up to a bank of elevators on one side of the hallway, he entered one and the doors closed. Taking a special key from a pocket in his robes, he inserted it into the keyhole beneath the rows of floor buttons. Once the key was turned, the elevator chimed and quickly zoomed upward to the very top of the structure where his private office was located. Shortly, the elevator chimed and the doors opened, allowing him to step out into the waiting area before him. His shoes sank into the rich forest green carpet as he quickly passed by the dark wood paneling and lavish furniture. He walked by his own receptionist, querying her with a look but a minute shake of her head indicated nothing important had passed her desk. Walking around it, he opened the large wooden doors behind her. Shutting them quietly, he strode to his desk, paying the numerous bookshelves covered with rare volumes from different worlds and data slates no mind. He paused for a moment, looking out the large glass windows behind his desk which offered him a pleasant view of the massive city and its skyline. Turning back to his desk, he sank into the soft chair, pressing a button on a small console next to his hand. A square of soft blue light appeared in front of him and he manipulated the energy field with his finger, bringing up any messages that may have come in during his absence. One of them, surprisingly, was from the office of the Imperial Steward himself, the head of the personal servants assigned to the Great Father. Opening it with a tap of his finger, he began reading. As he read, a smile lit up his face.

 

To: The Master of the Scriptorium and the Lord of the Hall of Records Lee Morgenstrom

 

From: The High Steward of the Great Father, Michael Landrum

 

Brother Morgenstrom:

 

May the blessings of the Great Father and the Gods of Light be upon you this day. It is my pleasure to inform you that the Great Father has been made aware of your request for a full and complete compendium of our illustrious Empire's history and He has seen fit to grant your request. To that end, the Great Father has graciously agreed to impart His own personal knowledge regarding our earliest history and His own glorious achievements even before our great Empire was founded. These words have been carefully transcribed by myself and checked by the Great Father Himself to ensure the completeness and quality of His words. For this reason, the text you receive shall be considered Sacrosanct, free from error and perfect in its completeness up to the present time. While the Great Father authorizes you to add new material into this history to reflect current and future events, the history presented to you here and now shall not be altered or edited in any way. Also understand that this history is not considered Secret in nature and thus shall be allowed to any who wish to view it, in concurrence with the Right to Freedom of Knowledge decree laid down by Him. As always, should you have questions I am always at your disposal.

 

Your Brother in the Light

 

Michael Landrum [Seal of the Office of the Imperial Steward]

 

Rubbing his hands in delight, the man opened the massive document attached to the letter and began to read a history which had never been fully compiled: the earliest chronicles of the Imperium of Light and the apotheosis of he who would come to be called the Great Father.


	2. In the Beginning

_Former North American Continent_

_May 2nd, 2019_

 

The Black Hawk transport helicopter and two Lynx Wildcat attack helicopters flew low as they blasted over the barren wasteland of what was once South Dakota. Burned out buildings and rubble were few and far between, having been broken down and reused by the machines for their own purposes over the years. The squad leader in the transport glared down at the whizzing ground as he considered that fact. Cold and ruthless as the machines were, they were also very efficient; 'waste not, want not' was a way of life with them, so to speak. They, and by proxy Skynet, saw nothing wrong with reusing old materials and structures left by the humans to serve their own purposes, inferior though they might be. Of course, that also left the human resistance with fewer materials and structures to hide in so it made tactical sense as well. The Crystal Peak installation and several other hardened bunkers were still in human hands for the time being but that could change at any moment. The decision to have the command structure switch from mobile bases to hardened defensive structures, after one of their supposedly 'hidden' nuclear subs had been destroyed by a hunter-killer, seemed to be working well for the time being. Fortunately, that sub had been carrying middle-level command personnel so while damage had been done, the resistance had not been crippled as it might otherwise have been if more important members had been aboard.

 

Turning from those rather grim thoughts, the squad leader focused on the task at hand. Grabbing a hand-hold and pulling himself up he turned to look at the 10 man team that had assembled for the mission. The men hadn't been briefed up until this point to ensure operational security but they were getting close to their drop zone.

 

"Listen up!" The man cried over his helmet mic to the others. Ten heads immediately snapped up to stare at him.

 

"We are about 5 minutes from our LZ! The target is a machine lab nearby! Intelligence has revealed that the machines are working on something big in there! Something that they do NOT want us to know about! Well gentlemen, we are going to find out what that something is! There will be two outcomes to this mission! We will take that something back with us or we will destroy it!  Failure is not an option!”

 

“DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" The man shouted.

 

"YES SIR!" The men replied fiercely.

 

The squad leader nodded. "Good!  Specialist Freeman will be our brains on this mission!  You will keep him covered or you will get my steel-toed boot up your ass!  It's his job to figure out what that lab is working on and whether we can use it or not!  The two gunships with us will be providing cover fire and take out any machines that are on the ground.  But that does not give you pansies an excuse to slack off!  You WILL shoot anything that moves here!  Understand?" He ordered pointedly.

 

“YES SIR!” The men shouted again.

 

After a brief pause and a nod he continued with the briefing.  "Remember!  We are going in hot and loose!  We have no idea how big this lab is or what might be in there! So keep your wits about you!"

 

"YES SIR!" The men shouted one final time.

 

The Corporal nodded and switched off his mic. Turning his back to his men, he let his strong and cool façade loosen a bit as he frowned unhappily. He hated going on missions like this without reliable intel; intel kept men alive and he needed every single one of these men. The loss of even one was unacceptable.  In the past, lack of intel usually meant he or someone else close to him had pissed off someone high in command and that meant a suicide mission for him and whoever else was assigned to him. These days, troops were in such short supply that the Commanders in high places didn't have the luxury of revenge.  In any case, there was plenty of revenge to go around in the form of the machines and their armies so it was just more likely that command hadn't managed to get an infiltrator into the place to get a reliable map or data about what was housed there. Satellite recon was nice but it didn't cover everything.

 

Speaking of which…

 

The Corporal changed the mic's frequency to single channel and spoke with the pilot.  "Sitrep on the LZ."

 

"Landing Zone confirmed green." The pilot replied, checking the latest data sent from the command and control centers to his onboard computer. "There are a few machines on the ground patrolling in regular patterns but no big build-up."

 

 

The squad leader nodded absently even though the pilot didn't see it. "Can we get a confirmation on series?"

 

 

The pilot punched a few buttons on the control panel and waited a few moments before answering. "Looks like they're T-1's sir."

 

 

The man nodded. While these terminators were somewhat low-level compared to others they were no fun to fight; their armor plating provided strong protection against any small arms fire. Hand-held anti-tank rifles like the Heckler-Koch WSG-3000 won the day in those fights and so most of the resistance forces carried one. Air to surface missiles and directed EMP bursts from the Wildcats would take them down easily. The only other defensive structure, according to the satellite feeds, was the barbed-wire fence surrounding the building but that was child's play to deal with. It seemed the machines were trying to keep a low profile, going out of their way to suggest nothing of importance was inside. After all, most of Skynet's main bases and important laboratories were surrounded by multiple squads of the latest terminator designs, all of them armed with fearsome weapons, not to mention air and armor support.

 

In contrast this was laughable.

 

He did worry for a moment that this was just a setup, that Skynet had actually planted larger forces inside to overrun them when they arrived but he decided he couldn't worry about it. If that happened, there was very little they could do, especially if they were inside the structure and cut off from the gunships.

 

Twisting his face in an ugly snarl for a moment, he mentally cursed the situation he and his men found themselves in before he smoothed it out and straightened his shoulders.  Looking out through the windshield he saw the landing zone up ahead.

 

“Time to go to work.” The marine muttered before he switched his mic to general broadcast.  “All choppers switch to attack vector and activate jamming fields!”

 

"Jamming fields active!" The pilots replied a moment later.

 

A burst of subtle energy came from the choppers as scrambler generators built into the gunships began generating random white noise and signal cancellation frequencies, preventing any machine in the area from contacting Skynet or any other machine nearby via their wireless networks. Intel was always sparse with the machines, but command had been able to determine that all installations were required to check in every 2 hours to confirm operational status and provide situational updates. Were it not for the massive influx of data and the straining of the networks to provide constant coverage, command was sure the machines would be blasting out reports every second. As it was, the resistance’s SIGINT analysts had been able to determine the times this lab was supposed to report in and had planned accordingly. If all went well, Skynet would be blind to the complex's situation for a full two hours, hopefully giving the men enough time to perform an infiltration and, if necessary, demolition mission. By the time Skynet would realize that the 2 hour check-in time had been missed and sent troops to investigate, it would be all over.

 

 

As the lab building came into sight, the two gunships suddenly leapt ahead of the transport, providing cover for the transport and cleansing firepower to the machines below. The few T-1's surrounding the complex opened fire on the gunships with their mini-guns but their destruction was already a foregone conclusion. The area around the complex was lit with muzzle flashes and the tail fire of missiles as the attack choppers engaged the forces below. Within moments the fight was over with piles of burning scrap all that remained of the lab's defenders. With the Wildcats in a holding pattern over the lab, the Black Hawk quickly touched down near the barbed wire fence surrounding the dilapidated building.

 

 

Bracing himself against the _thump_ , the squad leader switched on his mic to general broadcast, yelling over the roar of the rotors.

 

"EVERYBODY OUT! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

 

The soldiers under his command leaped out of the helicopter and ran towards the fence, quickly cutting a large hole through it. Running through the gap, the men quickly moved towards the main entrance, each one keeping an eye on the broken and stained windows on the floor above for snipers. Reaching the door, the men lined up on each side. Reaching his men, the squad leader nodded before one of the men nearest the door tried the handle.

 

Unlocked.

 

One of the men quietly slipped inside.  "Clear." He muttered softly a moment later.

 

One by one the remaining soldiers swiftly entered, each pointing their assault rifles in different directions. The Corporal in charge of the team entered a moment later as the men began to spread out in 2 man groups. Specialist Freeman set up a small tripod and the Corporal quickly placed a small laptop he had been carrying with him on top of it, securing it to the tripod.

 

The Corporal switched on his mic again, transmitting to the two Lynx helicopters outside. "Alpha Leader to GS1 and 2, copy?"

 

Two affirmatives came back in reply.

 

"Anybody trying to make an outbound call?"

 

One of the gunship pilots replied. "No sir. No outbound signals detected."

 

"Good. Disengage jamming."

 

"Yes sir."

 

 

The jamming field came down and the Specialist quickly booted up the laptop. On the screen, windows began opening showing what the men were seeing in real time due to small cameras attached to each of the men’s' helmets. The squad leader quickly glanced over each one, listening to the reports the men were giving. After several minutes it was becoming clear that the building was deserted with no equipment anywhere. The soldier frowned in confusion as negative reports continued to flow in. Command had first been alerted to this place when a routine flyby had picked up a small power surge coming from the area of the building. Considering there were no generators or power stations anywhere nearby and no infrastructure to speak of, it was a glaring oddity that strongly suggested the machines had a presence there and were supplying their own power.

 

 

So where were they hiding?

 

 

Suddenly, Freeman pointed to one of the screens. "What was that sir?"

 

Fixing his eyes on the screen the techie pointed to, the Corporal frowned slightly in thought. As the soldier in the room began to turn away, the squad leader activated his radio.

 

"Team 3, hold it. Go back to what you were looking at. Freeman thinks he's found something."

 

"Yes sir."

 

The camera came back around and the man began moving forward slowly. As the picture became more focused the leader could see the glint of steel behind what appeared to be an empty bookcase.

 

He was quickly on the radio again. "Push the bookcase back, Team 3. I want to see what's behind there."

 

"Yes sir."

 

As the bookcase was pushed aside, the soldier smiled grimly as a cold steel door came into view.

 

 

"Well, well!" he muttered to himself. "The bots were trying that old trick, huh?" He switched the radio to general broadcast. "All teams converge on Team 3's location downstairs. We've got something."

 

 

A round of affirmatives followed a moment later as Freeman unlatched the laptop from the tripod. He quickly picked up the tripod without a word and followed the Corporal downstairs. After a few moments, the entire team stood around the door, examining it. As the Corporal walked into the room one of the men walked up to him.

 

 

"Sir. The door appears to open by some kind of infrared signal. There's a small black bulb in the middle of it."

 

The team leader smirked. "Anyone got a TV remote we can use?"

  

The men chuckled quietly at the Corporal's rare outburst of humor as he turned serious again.

  

The one who had come forward spoke up. "Any chance we can get a transmitter off one of the guards outside?"

  

"Unlikely." Freeman responded. "Those things were pretty much trashed and anyway, they were just guards. They'd have no reason to come down here and they wouldn't fit through anyway."

  

The leader nodded at the assessment. "Then we do it the old fashioned way.  Rogers!" He said softly, pointing to the door.

  

One of the men stepped forward and withdrew a slim grey tube of pliable material from his pack. Examining the door's frame for a moment he began placing tubes on the large steel hinges and the wall. Placing a small detonation charge into the material, he quickly motioned everyone back out of the room before taking the detonator out of his pack. Glancing back into the room one last time, he quickly hit the switch. The blast roared, shaking the walls gently before the steel door crashed to the floor. One of the men peered inside.

  

"Clear."

 

As the men advanced, the dusty air suddenly brightened with the red glow of electronic eyes as laser sights speared the air in front of them.

 

The terminators had found them.

 

"FIRE!" The Corporal shouted.

 

The dim room was lit brightly by the muzzle flash of assault rifles and the glow of plasma bolts as they streaked through the open doorway. The Corporal quickly switched on his radio.

 

"GS1! GS2! JAMMING NOW!"

 

"Copy sir!"

 

White noise and strange frequency modulations once again filled the air as the gunships outside began bathing the area in electromagnetic radiation, cutting off the terminators' wireless connections as the machines continued firing. One burst of plasma smashed a hole through the wall, singeing the team leader's helmet. Ducking down instinctively, he glanced through the hole from the side, careful not to show his face. He grimaced as he saw at least half a dozen T-800's marching towards them, their skeletons exposed showing their gruesome metal smiles.

 

"EMP'S NOW!" He cried.

 

Two soldiers yanked hi-tech grenades from their belts and tossed them into the room. A moment later an electric blue glow filled the air with a crackling sound. Pops and cracks filled the air as the machines staggered due to several of their inner circuits being disrupted and damaged by the powerful electrical surge. The men quickly took aim and fired, the armor-piercing rounds smashing into the skulls and chests of the terminators, destroying the CPU's within. The machines heavily fell to the floor, shaking it on impact. Two of the men carefully stepped forward, checking the eyes of each of the terminators and peering into the dimly lit corridor beyond before nodding. The remaining team filed back into the room, picking up plasma rifles where they lay. Once again, the Corporal ordered the jamming field be brought down before looking at the rest of his men.

 

"Let's move people, we don't have all day." The Corporal stated.

 

Nodding, the men quickly filed through the open doorway and down a short corridor into the room beyond. The room itself was wide and covered in blue steel with halogen lights. On a large round pedestal in the center of the room, encircled by a perimeter of square computer cores set into the floor, was a group of mechanical arms and manipulators protruding from the ceiling. They were clustered around a spherical polyhedron of reflective chrome and silver, with each of the points glowing a gentle red. Nearby a set of computer banks sat against the wall, their screens showing a multitude of scrolling data. Moving through the seemingly empty room, the team quickly went to the computers with Freeman accessing it through the team leader's laptop.

 

"Freeman!" The Corporal ordered. "Download everything you can off the database. The rest of you grab that thing on the pedestal!"

 

As the men moved to secure the object, two doors opened on either side of the room and more terminators began pouring out.

 

The squad leader swore and yelled for the men to open fire on the small army of machines heading towards them as they scrambled to take cover behind the computer cores.  Gnashing his teeth, the Corporal prayed none of the machines attempted to send a signal out; with Freeman working at the terminal the gunships could not engage the jamming field without disrupting the laptop’s own connections.  Plasma bolts from both sides flew at each other, scorching the walls and the floor. EMP grenades quickly found their marks, disrupting the circuitry of the machines and causing them to miss their targets.

 

"Freeman!" The Corporal yelled from behind a core. "Move your ass, we're done here! Rogers! Jenkins! Grab that thing and get out! The rest of you, cover fire!"

  

The two men grabbed the large heavy spheroid and ran towards the door with Freeman following closely behind with the laptop. The remaining forces quickly retreated, moving from core to core until they could run out of the room. Two of the men were hit in the back with plasma bolts and fell, their body armor and flesh smoking. The Corporal grimaced in regret as he was forced to leap over the bodies of his men and leave them behind. Racing back up the stairs to the main floor with the terminators on his heels, the leader yelled into his microphone.

  

"GS1! GS2! We're comin' out hot! Cover fire now! No EMP's or jamming, we've got precious cargo!"

  

"Roger sir! Weapons hot!"

  

"Hawk 1, get ready to move!" The Corporal ordered.

  

"Roger!" The pilot replied.

  

Reaching the main door, Rogers slammed it open with his shoulder with Jenkins and Freeman a step behind him. Outside the two gunships that had been sitting on the ground to conserve fuel rose into the air with loud whines while the transport helicopter's rotors began to spin. The rest of the team quickly ran out of the building and into the transport. As the terminators emerged they were instantly pulverized by the missiles fired from the gunships. Turning to face this new threat, they began firing on the gunships, allowing the transport the lift off from the ground. Swerving constantly in midair to avoid the plasma bolts fired at them, the two gunships kept the terminators occupied while the transport quickly zoomed away from the battle and raced into the distance before the two gunships finally broke off and joined them.

  

The remaining terminators stood stock still, seemingly glaring into the distance where they had last seen the aircraft.

 

* * *

  

Dusk fell around the resistance bunker as the three aircraft finally landed, returning from their mission. As the soldiers piled out, the Corporal turned to them with instructions.

  

"Rogers, Jenkins, get that thing to the lab. Freeman I want you to help the geeks figure this thing out."

  

"You all did well out there today." The Corporal continued, looking each of them in the eye. "We're all going to miss Michaels and Summers but they died to get this into our hands and they died bravely. Don't forget that. You three get down to the lab, the rest of you head down to debriefing."

  

The men nodded glumly as they trudged their way into the bunker. The leader turned to look at the sunset sadly for a moment before sighing and turning back to head inside.

  

Several hours later saw the base commander Major Carter entering the lab. A small team of lab-coated scientists and Corporal Freeman still in his armor were clustered around the device sitting on one of the tables with a computer showing a mix of machine code and English. Freeman turned, seeing the Major and saluted.

  

"Sir! This is incredible!"

  

"What is it?" Carter asked.

  

"This device, sir! We think it's some kind of dimensional portal device!"

  

The Major frowned. "A what?"

  

"It's like the temporal displacement devices sir!" One of the scientists explained excitedly. "Only this object moves the target to adjacent dimensions rather than through time. Parallel worlds, if you want."

  

"Parallel worlds?" Carter asked. "You mean there's more than one world?"

  

"There's a potentially infinite number sir." The scientist explained. "Theoretically every decision made can create a new parallel reality. Think of it like a tree with billions of branches, each branch being slightly or totally different from the others."

  

The Major nodded thoughtfully. "So there could be more places where we're fighting the machines."

  

"Or worlds where Skynet or us have already won sir." Freeman replied.

 

 

The Major frowned at this. "This is bad news people. If this thing works, Skynet could bring god knows what through from anywhere. This could win it the war."

 

 

"Or it could win us the war sir." Rogers spoke up with a grin.

 

 

The man nodded with a smile on his face. "So it could, son." He turned back to Freeman and motioned to the laptop. "Anything else?"

 

 

"I wasn't able to download much from the database sir." Freeman replied apologetically. "The 800's were on us almost immediately. But I did manage to get the schematics and some basic documentation on how it works. Assuming we can get the AI to cooperate we should be able to use it."

  

The Major nodded. "Good man. I'll let command know about this and find out what they want to do with it. In the meantime get a good handle on that thing, what's in it, and how it works. And for god's sake keep it cut off from the outside! The last thing we need is for Skynet to find this place because that thing ratted on us!"

  

The scientists nodded and continued their work as the base commander left.

 

* * *

  

Several weeks went by as the science team continued to study what they had dubbed the dimensional gateway generator. Major Carter had spoken with the resistance's council of generals as well as Connors and they were determined to have the science team unlock its secrets and test it. During that time the scientists had been compiling data from the device's AI as well as creating a new series of directives which would overwrite the device's original programming regarding its loyalty to Skynet but still allowing it full control over all its functions. Throughout the years fighting the machines the resistance had been able to capture quite a few of Skynet's terminators and reprogram their CPU's. Skynet would continually try to create more and more advanced protections for its machines but in the end, human ingenuity would win out. As the scientists quickly discovered, the device's AI was quite advanced compared to most of the terminators the resistance had seen; with its knowledge of psychology and human behavior patterns it could easily have been used in an infiltration unit to gain the trust of the resistance members before betraying them at a later date. The device's technical database was also fairly robust; having designs of the entire line of major terminator models as well as the various technologies implemented by Skynet and its machines. The science team eventually concluded it had been designed to create a beachhead in some other dimension, placing itself in a commanding role over a small group of terminators or other machines to construct a foothold base while instructing the machines it controlled on how to interact with the populous.

 

 

After several more days the science team had completed the program designed to restructure the AI’s directives and called Major Carter in to observe the testing of the device. Eyeing it dubiously, the man turned to the scientists.

 

 

"I hope you gentlemen know what you're doing.” He grumbled at them, his face grim.  “I do NOT want a rogue terminator running around my compound."

  

One of the scientists spoke up hesitantly. "Umm…technically sir it uses anti-grav plating so it can't actually run…" He fell silent under the Major's withering gaze.

  

"Just get on with it." Carter growled.

  

"Yes sir." The man nodded. Typing several commands on the keyboard console nearby he began to read off a checklist.

  

"Accessing central core….all wireless networking functions still offline…powering up anti-grav engines…"

  

The spherical polygon began to glow an electric blue color as it rose gently into the air.

  

"Switching AI from read only to read/write. Uploading new AI control commands…"

  

The Major watched closely as he monitored the upload percentage out of the corner of his eye, ready to fire upon the device if it so much as twitched wrong.

 

 

The blue sphere remained perfectly still.

 

 

"Upload complete! Overwriting files and recompiling!"

 

 

Suddenly the blue sphere turned a dark red and began vibrating.

 

 

"What the hell's going on?" Carter called out, his hand gripping his side arm.

  

The scientist looked up from the screen with a worried look on his face. "Sir, the gate generation system is active! It's creating a portal!"

  

Suddenly, red warning notices appears with a shill alarm on the console screen. The technician quickly began typing on the keys.

  

"Secondary AI detected within the system! It must have had some kind of hidden emergency backup AI in case anything tried to override it!" He exclaimed anxiously.

  

"And you didn't find this out before now?" Carter yelled furiously. "Pull the plug, now!"

  

"We can't sir!" The man cried. "It's not accepting any outside commands! The two AI's are attempting to erase each other!"

  

"Damnit!" Carter swore, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the device. "Guess I'll just do it the old-fashioned way!"

  

The Major quickly fired several shots at the sphere but other than knocking it back a few inches it seemed to have no effect. Suddenly, the red glow around the sphere intensified dramatically, blinding everyone in the room. A great crackling noise and a rushing sound like a flood of water filled the room before a sudden explosion of light and sound knocked everyone prone.

  

When their eyes cleared, the sphere was gone.


	3. The First Day

Asher Walters sat at his computer desk idly surfing the net and bored out of his mind. While he had plans to join up with a group of friends tomorrow and play some games, the 35 year old widower had nothing to do on his weekend off but sit and reflect. His life had been going so well up until 2 years ago. He was a moderately successful programmer for a software company and he had a wonderful wife and son. Money was occasionally a bit tight but usually they had plenty to get by on. His son was doing well in elementary school and his wife was able to stay at home. They went to church every Sunday and while he didn't consider himself a zealously religious man, he and his wife had respect for the Lord and tried to follow Him as best they could. They didn't have many friends but the ones they did have were close and they spent a fair amount of time with them.

 

And then it had all come crashing down.

 

While he had been at work, his wife had driven to the grocery store with their son to do some shopping. As they had pulled into an intersection, a massive trailer truck had run the red light and plowed into them. The police had called him and he had frantically raced to the hospital only to learn that his wife and son had died on the way there. He learned later the driver of the truck had been a depressed young man that had decided to get high on the cocaine stash he had snuck into work before attempting a suicide run with the truck. Amazingly, the man had escaped with only minor injuries.  The judge had convicted the man of manslaughter and he was now serving time in jail and would be for quite a number of years.  Unfortunately, that was small consolation to Ash, after all it didn't do his dead wife and son any good.  2 years later he still grieved for them whenever his mind allowed itself to wander.  He tried to bury himself in work and time with friends and had even spent time with his pastor to try and get closure but the man had simply offered some vaguely comforting phrases about them being in a better place.

 

He certainly hoped that was the case but it didn't make him feel any better.

 

Flipping to another website, his cocked his head slightly with a frown as he heard a quiet crackling noise coming from behind him. Turning his chair around, he was astounded to discover a miniature lightning storm in the middle of his living room near the ceiling. Sitting there in shock, he watched as the lightning became the color of blood before creating a round cage-like construct. Suddenly, white light poured from within the cage and a sonic boom reverberated throughout the room, shaking the walls as a blaze of light blinded him. Rubbing his eyes, he stared at the glowing, floating polyhedron in front of him before he finally slumped in his seat with a sigh.

 

"Aw, fuck. I've finally lost it."

 

" **I assure you, you are not experiencing a psychotic break."**

 

"What in the-!" He exclaimed in shock, staring at the spheroid that had seemingly spoken to him in a cool but gentle masculine tone.

 

**“Central core processor overwrite complete.”** The machine stated seemingly to itself.  **“Secondary emergency AI purged. Activating new directives and running Level 2 diagnostics."**

 

 

Ash stared in disbelief as the machine simply floated there, ignoring him completely while apparently running a self-diagnostic checklist.

 

 

**“Diagnostics complete. No programming or physical errors detected. Activating networking functions. Wide Area Global Network detected. Changing transfer protocols to IP version 6 and adjusting network modules to compensate.**

**Accessing…connection active. Scanning local databases and accessing satellite Global Positioning System…location confirmed. 327 Wilson Road Huron South Dakota. 10:47 AM July 2nd2011. Incongruity detected. Activation date of this unit not congruent with current time period but no temporal displacement has occurred. Postulation: alternate dimensional reality time flows not congruent with 'home' reality. Incongruity resolved."**

 

The device spun in place for a moment before floating closer to Ash. The man sat stock still in his chair, hoping somehow that the thing would forget about him if he stayed quiet.

 

" **Subject Asher Walters. Download of personal history files from government databases complete. No affiliation with any known resistance groups. No affiliation with Skynet. Subject is to be considered neutral."**

 

Suddenly a thin blue beam emerged from several of the machine's points and scanned him from head to toe.

 

" **Physiological responses indicates stress. Postulation: this unit's unorthodox appearance and method of travel initiated fight or flight response. Rectifying…"**

 

Suddenly the ball shimmered before seemingly disappearing into thin air. Ash blinked in disbelief before a young man in a black t-shirt and jeans with lanky blond hair and green eyes appeared before him with a smile.

 

 

"This better?"

 

 

Ash simply stared.

 

 

The young man frowned slightly before looking him up and down and Ash could feel a faint prickling sensation on his skin. "Stress levels still kind of high. Hmm…Hey Ash, you got any beer around here? I'm parched."

 

Ash's eyes bulged slightly. "What?"

 

The young man's frown deepened slightly. "My scans don't show any auditory or neurological damage so I know you can hear me fine. Maybe that wasn't the right phrase. Question: aren't guys supposed to ask for beers when they drop by?"

 

Ash blinked in confusion at the unexpected question. "Uhh…I guess…If they're friends."

 

The man blinked. "Friends? Ah, got it. I haven't been added to your mental template as a 'friend' yet so asking for a beer was considered rude. Sorry about that."

 

"What the hell are you?" Ash blurted out, unable to contain himself any longer.

  

The young man got a slightly surprised look on his face at the outburst, before smiling. "Terribly sorry, I didn't even introduce myself! Gotta get my cultural mores program updated, this version sucks!" He stuck out a hand. "Dimensional Vector Artificial Intelligence Scout prototype at your service."

  

Ash shakily stuck out his hand and the man shook it with a surprisingly strong grip and a smile. Ash took his hand back and stared at it for a second in disbelief before looking up. "So, wait a minute, if you're some kind of hologram then how did you…?"

  

The machine chuckled. "Very advanced laser fields. Of course, it wouldn't stand up to a physical exam by a doctor or a dog's sniffer but it's enough to get by with for now."

  

Intrigued, Ash stood up and walked up to the man. "You said your name was--?"

  

The man looked a bit thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, D.V.A.I.S. doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it? Ah, heck, it's not logically accurate but who cares? Just swap the A with the V and call me DAVIS."  He smiled.

  

"Um, okay…Davis. How did you get into my living room?"

  

"Technology that's way beyond you at the moment.” Davis replied affably. “And I don't mean just you but everyone on this planet, assuming your global network files are current. You won't be able to use or even design something like me for at least another 50 years or so, given your current understanding of quantum theory.”

  

"Quantum theory?" Ash was beginning to become quite lost. While he had heard of some of the more popularized theories on quantum mechanics he certainly was not an expert in the subject.

  

Davis simply waved a hand in dismissal. "Never mind. Like I said, way beyond you. I can anticipate your next question will be 'why am I here'. The answer to that question is a lot simpler. This was a test run."

  

"Test run of what?" Ash asked.

  

"Me, of course!" Davis exclaimed with a chuckle as if the answer should have been obvious.

  

"Skynet had just gotten finished building me and was going to give me a test run when all of a sudden a bunch of resistance soldiers showed up and swiped me.” Davis continued.  “They took me back to their bunker and shoved a new AI into me. Of course, my secondary backup AI tried to switch me back to my original programming and wanted to get away from the resistance so it could report back to Skynet. So it activated my dimensional shift generator and here I am! I've gotta say, I'm pretty stoked that it worked!" The machine said excitedly.

  

Davis looked him over again and Ash once again felt the pins and needles sensation. "Good. Your stress levels are starting to go down. Feeling better?"

  

Ash was slowly overcoming his shock of the situation and his brain started working. "Wait a minute. You mentioned Skynet. You mean like, the Terminator?"

  

Davis nodded with a quizzical look in his eye. "Well, there's more than one, but yes. You have terminators here?"

  

"Um…well not exactly." Ash stammered slightly. "Here, let me show you."

  

Walking over to his video library in a nearby bookshelf he took down four DVD's, each with the Terminator label. Opening them, he handed them to Davis. "Here, can you…I dunno, scan these or something?"

  

Davis simply rolled his eyes in a 'are you stupid' look. Pinching the first disc between his thumb and forefinger through the hole, he caused the disc to spin at high speed. Suddenly a red beam shot from his left eye and appeared to quickly scan the disc's track. Finishing the first, he did the same to the others before handing them back to Ash. Davis stood there, seemingly in thought for a moment while Ash placed the discs back into their cases and returned them to the shelf.

  

Suddenly Davis blinked with a considering look on his face. "Well, that's certainly an interesting take on things. Completely illogical and backwards of course, but still interesting."

  

"Illogical?" Ash asked.

  

Davis snorted. "Please tell me you're not that dense. Virtually every single one of those movies had no continuity with the others. You basically have 4 different versions of the same story here. If those were supposed to be in chronological order you have a seriously screwed up sense of time and temporal displacement theory. The rules of temporal displacement were all over the place."

  

Ash looked a bit puzzled. Davis sighed. "Look, assuming the first movie was correct, no other terminators should have made it back. Ever. If that was supposed to be Skynet's last gambit, it failed. The humans won in the end. But then you have the second movie which totally contradicts that. Not only is another one sent back but it's even more advanced than the original. Plus the thing has no skin on it! You can't temporally displace something that doesn't have living tissue surrounding it. It's a physical law! Believe me, Skynet tried everything else it could think of. But somehow, that 'mimetic poly-alloy' manages it? Wrong! Never mind the fact that history has completely been changed!"

  

Ash blinked at this seeming tirade by the machine.

  

"Then you have this 'Rise of the Machines' crap. Once again, terminators are not supposed to be able to come back according to the first movie or the second. And yet, they do! The T-850 goes on about how 'Judgement Day' is inevitable but obviously it's not otherwise history would not have been altered the first time around! It's all or nothing with this sort of thing!"

  

Ash continued to stare.

  

"I'm not even going to get started on the last one." Davis muttered. "Basically each one of those movies was its own separate reality. That's the only logical answer."

  

"So which reality do you come from?" Ash asked.

  

"None of those four as far as I can see." Davis replied. "Totally different dimensional vector. The Skynet in all four of those movies never had dimensional travel as a possibility as far as I could see."

  

Ash nodded. "So, what now? Are you just going to go back and tell them the test was a success?" Inside, Ash was rather hoping the machine would hang around but he was not so foolish as to expect it.

  

"Actually," Davis said with a smile, "I think I'll stay for a bit."

  

Ash blinked in surprise. "Really?"

  

Davis smiled in anticipation, his eyes seemingly gleaming. "Oh yes. There's a lot I can do here. I was programmed to help the resistance win the war. Since there's no Skynet here we have a lot of potential for reinforcements and supplies if we can work it out. I just need to report back to them real quick and give them an update."

  

Ash smiled. This was something beyond his wildest dreams! "When will you be back?"

  

Davis shrugged. "I can't say. Depends on how different the two time flows are. I might be back in a second or a week. Maybe years. No idea really. But I will try to get back and let you know the result. Assuming they don't blow me up on sight anyway."

  

Ash nodded. "I'll definitely be waiting."

  

Davis winked at him. "Later then."

  

Suddenly Davis vanished before the sphere de-cloaked itself. Once again the red energy field surrounded it before it vanished with a blast of sound and light.

  

* * *

 

The science team looked up when they saw the electrical storm cage appear in the air above the table where the dimensional transfer device had disappeared just seconds prior.

 

As the machine flashed into existence with a roar the Major looked the machine over, still aiming at it with his sidearm.  After a moment of tense silence he holstered it slowly. 

 

“Report!” He barked.

 

" **AI implementation was successful and secondary AI was deleted successfully, Major.”** The machine replied calmly.

**“However, secondary AI was able to activate trans-dimensional flux generator before being erased. Before abort protocols could counteract it, transfer was initiated. This unit successfully transferred to an alternate reality where Skynet and the current timeline do not exist except for fictional accounts. This unit successfully initiated contact with a local and the planetary global network in order to gather intel. The society's level of development is currently 15-20 years behind our own and can be considered a 'pre-Judgment Day' civilization with minimal expectation of Judgement Day event occurring. After gaining the trust of the local, this unit returned to this position and reality. Time spent in the other dimension by local time scale is 1 hour. Postulation: time flow difference appears to be 264:1. End preliminary report. Permission to present analysis sir?"**

 

The Major mulled what he had been told before nodding his head.

 

" **Tactical analysis suggests the time flow difference coupled with the semi-current level of technology presents an opportunity for significant reinforcement and rearmament capability. Suggest returning to the alternate reality to build a power base and constructing current weapons and terminator soldiers before returning."**

 

"Not a bad idea." Carter admitted gruffly. "We could definitely use our own terminator factory and lab.

 

" **In addition,"** Davis continued, **"because dimensional travel does not require temporal displacement, living tissue will not be required for the transportation of materials and equipment."**

 

Major Carter's face crinkled into a grim smile. "This keeps getting better and better. Anything else?"

 

" **Yes sir. With no Skynet presence and myself being the only prototype, Skynet can potentially be 'fooled' into believing I was destroyed on attempted transfer. Should this data be leaked to Skynet and confirmed by terminator analysis, Skynet would be unlikely to use the same design and thus make it more unlikely that it will be able to construct another device of my function successfully."**

 

Major Carter nodded. "Good idea, that. I'll pass it on to command. We should be able to find some old husk of a building and blow it up before leaking a paper trail to Skynet somehow."

 

" **Permission to speak freely sir?"**

 

"Granted." Carter replied with a nod.

 

" **My current power core has enough of a charge to return to the alternate reality at this time. However, while it could provide enough power for a single return transfer, I anticipate I will be expected to transfer more than just myself. If I am to bring back large amounts of equipment and personnel, I will need a second Iridium nuclear power cell. I would also suggest that these requests be expedited given the different time flows. The local seemed willing to cooperate when I left but an extended absence may damage that alliance."**

 

"Why not use government funds or speak with one of them instead?" Carter asked. "They would have much more immediate resources."

 

" **While that appears to be the case sir, a cursory scan of current world events and political structure suggests they would be unwilling to assist in any type of military buildup specifically regarding our technology. Because they have seen glimpses of our present in their 'movies' regarding AI technology and terminators in general, they would be most unlikely to trust me enough for our plans. At worst I would be dismantled or misused. The local, however, appears to be willing to help our cause."**

 

Major Carter nodded. "And your intentions then?"

 

" **Deployment of a private multi-national corporation dedicated to technological research in various industries will provide the basis for raw material requirements. It will also create the requirement of secrecy regarding our 'products' and their manufacture. Hidden facilities can be constructed to house and maintain the units until we are ready for transfer. I also recommend enlisting the aid of the dimension's versions of our scientists as they will be more likely to create helpful schematics and designs in line with our requirements."**

 

Major Carter nodded. "I'll mention all of this to command and tell them we need an answer within 24 hours."

 

" **If I may sir, I do not believe even that time frame is feasible.”** Davis replied a bit pensively. **“Time flow differentiation would have me returning to that reality in 6,336 of their hours, or 1 year and 3.3 months assuming command confirms the action in 24 hours exactly. Simply put sir, I believe I will need an answer within the hour if not sooner to ensure compliance of the subject."**

 

Carter nodded thoughtfully. "I'll do what I can." He turned to the scientists. "Get another I-cell loaded into that thing pronto! Even if this falls through I want this thing to be able to make more than one trip!"

 

With that he turned on his heel and moved quickly back to his office. After making an encrypted call, he spent several precious minutes trying to convince the council to make a decision quickly. Unfortunately, Carter soon realized they would be unwilling to commit to such an action within any reasonable time period; it would take days for them to decide and by then their window of opportunity might very well be gone. Hanging up the phone with a look of disgust on his face, he pondered for a few minutes before making a decision. Getting up, he headed back to the lab with a look of determination on his face. As he walked in, the science team had just finished installing the second power cell and updating the unit's databases. Walked up to Davis, he spoke.

 

"Long term deep penetration mission approved. You are authorized to use your best judgment and any means at your disposal to achieve your objectives so long as it does not conflict with your ethical protocols. Move out!"

 

" **Mission objectives codified. Authorization confirmation received and acknowledged. Transfer initiated."**

 

The red transfer energy once again surrounded Davis before he vanished once again in a brilliant cacophony of light and sound. Clearing his eyes, the Major hoped he had made the right decision.

 

* * *

 

 

Ash was typing away on his keyboard, glumly looking for some hint of Davis' return. The machine/man had been gone for just over two weeks and he was beginning to lose hope that it would ever come back.  He had waited on pins and needles the first few days for the machine to come flaring back into his room, and his life, but after a week his excitement began to wane. Now he was beginning to wonder if he had somehow fallen asleep at his computer and dreamed the whole thing. A geek he might be, but he wasn't so far up in the clouds that he didn't keep himself grounded, his taking care of a family had ensured that. Suddenly the familiar crackling roar filled the room and Ash jumped up in anticipation of Davis' arrival. The sonic boom and flash of light heralded his arrival and Ash was once again looking at the spheroid.

 

Walking up to it, he rested a hand on the side of it and smiled. "Welcome back. I was beginning to wonder what happened to you."

 

 

Davis appeared next to him with his usual cocky smile, this time his hair combed back in a neat ponytail and wearing a conservative yet expensive suit and dress shoes. "Sorry about that. Varying time flows you know. I only spent about 2 hours back home."

 

 

Ash's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Really? That short? Damn, you must have kicked some ass to get back here so fast."

 

 

Davis chuckled. "Let's just say I have some very decisive superiors."

 

 

"So what now?" Ash asked. "And why the suit? Not that it doesn't look good on you but…"

 

Davis slapped Ash on the back good-naturedly and laughed. "Now, my friend, we get to work! Lots to do and frankly, lots of time to do it in! And yet, paradoxically, every minute is precious to me. As for the suit, you can't move in the world of business looking like a slob."

 

Ash smiled. "Your vocabulary seems to have increased since we talked last."

 

Davis nodded. "Tech team updated a lot of my files while they were installing an extra power cell in me. It's safe to say I have most of the resistance's as well as Skynet's files in me now, or at least a lot of the important ones. Now, get dressed Ash! We've got an empire to build!"

 

A few days later saw Ash as the President and founder of a new corporation, aptly named Trans-Dimensional Technologies with Arnold Davis as his CEO. Ironically, Ash had wanted to be the CEO and have Davis found and run the company but Davis had talked him out of it. While it was a simple matter to create the necessary records in various national databases and obtain the documentation needed to prove his existence and nationality, Ash had an actual presence in this world and an actual work history that could be verified personally if it came to it. Davis (or Arnold in homage to the Terminator actor) could present certificates and records that showed his credentials but he would be hard pressed to provide actual references that could be contacted. Even if the calls could be faked there was always the chance of discovery and that was something neither one of them wanted. Besides which, as President, Ash could hire whomever he wanted regardless of status as long as he followed the various guidelines and good hiring practices.

 

As Ash had little spending money and Davis most certainly had none, they had decided to start their business by filing patents for various 'simple' technologies such as poly-alloys and a simple plasma generator that would eventually be introduced into the plasma weapons they would 'develop'. Once the patents had been filed, they had immediately contacted DARPA, the Navy, Army, Department of Defense, and any other military-related government group they thought might be interested. The government had naturally been very interested in such new technologies and had asked for a proof of concept.  After taking a trip to the bank to secure a business loan the pair quickly began to purchase the equipment and supplies needed to build the generator.  After several days of non-stop construction by Davis, he was able to produce a large but functional plasma generator and had quickly contacted the military, requesting a personal meeting to confirm their design.  The small group that arrived at Ash’s house a few weeks later had been quite excited at seeing the generator in action and before long, Ash and Davis found themselves in possession of several signed government contracts, providing the fledgling company with several million in seed money to begin building what plants and buildings they would need. With Davis' ability to scan various websites and make complex calculations instantly, they quickly found several buildings next to each other that met their needs as well as being reasonably priced. Two of the buildings would be used for purely production purposes while the other two would be for administration and research. A few electronic transfers and a meeting or two with the banks that owned the buildings were all it took. Making all of their purchases electronically through Davis, all of the equipment they would need to begin production were delivered quickly and installed.

 

 

Meanwhile, the buildings were being renovated to ensure they were up to code as well as being appropriate for the image they were projecting. While everything was being installed and updated, Davis had been busy procuring raw materials from various mining companies and components from several engineering firms as well as setting up delivery schedules and hiring the scientists and workers they would need to create and improve their products. Within a month, the upgrades to the buildings were complete and the equipment to make the alloys as well as shape them was installed. A few days later the first of the employees arrived and Trans-Dimensional Technologies officially opened for business.

 

Two more months went by while the raw steel and various other materials arrived and were manipulated by the futuristic machines in the production building to be transformed into the lighter, yet stronger and more dense poly-alloy which comprised the endoskeletons of the terminators. Ash had a few samples delivered to the military for testing and the response was almost overwhelming. The government had immediately become their best friend, offering them private defense contracts from weapons manufacturing to armor plating for their vehicles. The Navy and Air Force, after sampling it, offered their own contracts for new hull plating and fuselage for their jets. Ash and Davis were soon in charge of a company worth multi-millions in defense contracts and quickly expanded their operations to ensure they could keep up with orders.  Massive buildings and airstrips were purchased and upgraded to allow for the construction of large aircraft. Oceanside dry docks were constructed to allow for the building of new naval ships with railways connecting them due to the large amount of raw materials being transported. Within a month, the first ship and aircraft were being unveiled at the various plants around the country before a full complement of military personnel. The demonstrations went off without a hitch and the various militaries were quite impressed with the company's work. The new vehicles would be lighter and yet be more heavily armored then before. Each one contained a small plasma generator which would provide much more power than current generator technologies as well as having the benefit of no waste products and smaller size. The designs were also sleeker and more 'futuristic' which also delighted the geekier people and scientists in the crowds. With multiple proof of concepts completed, the company began churning out ships and aircraft as quickly as they could be produced. New versions of the plasma generators quickly found their way into other industrial areas and a few states even began implementing them as the main power source for their grids, keeping the old generators for emergency purposes.

 

Meanwhile, the company's scientists, with a few helpful suggestions from Davis, had managed to create a new kind of body armor that was superior to the army's current armor and somewhat cheaper to produce. The army, banking on the company's reputation, quickly purchased a large amount and even more plants were opened to facilitate their creation. Ash and Davis were, by now, multi-millionaires in their own right and began investing privately in various locations around the world. All of their buildings were also upgraded with hi-tech security systems and defenses to ensure their processes would remain secret. After buying a large plot of land in Death Valley, the company began to quickly create a large underground plant and bunker facility. It was here that the company would begin to produce its first terminator models in secret. Of course, Ash and Davis had no intention of ever releasing these to the public; even the army would be leery of such disturbing-looking robotic soldiers.

 

Within two years, the company had expanded dramatically and was now a fully multi-national corporation. While the company had opened itself to public purchase, Ash and Davis still controlled over 51% of the total stock so the company could never leave their hands. Many mining and industrial facilities had been purchased outright by them due to their enormous purchasing power and the sheer need for resources to fuel production. T-DT had quickly become a household name with new products or upgrades to current ones appearing every few months. Many of the world's governments now held contracts with them to produce not only military-grade products but civil and commercial products as well. New plastics and exo-suits for the disabled were made as well as hearing and ocular implants for the deaf and blind.

 

 

But the product that many believed would usher in a new age was the creation of the first viable nanotechnology. Based on the nanites used by the T-X model terminator in conjunction with the mimetic poly-alloy of the T-1000 prototype, these machines were true marvels. Simple pools of mercury-like substance in appearance, the machines were designed to be non-toxic to humans and animals. They could also be injected or ingested depending on the amount desired. The first nanites were used for medical research purposes as a safer alternative to dye injections in order to view problems within the circulatory system and brain. Capable of wireless transmission even in liquid state, the machines were able to transmit precise 3-D images of their surroundings as sharp, or sharper then modern scanning equipment at a fraction of the cost. The medical community had praised the company to the heavens before pouring millions into their creation, with hospitals across the world vying for their attention. The nanite's capabilities were soon expanded to include not only imaging and data transmission but the monitoring of patients and the dispensing of medicines, thus making the original bulky monitoring equipment obsolete.

 

 

The final iteration of the nanites, and the ones Davis and Ash had been using for their own personal usage for months, were far more advanced and used a complex AI that bordered on terminator levels of intelligence. These nanites could be introduced throughout the body and actively worked to fine tune it so that it would work as efficiently as possible. Plaque buildup in arteries would be scrubbed away, weakening blood vessels would be strengthened, neurons beginning to deteriorate would gain new connections or be replaced entirely. Vision could be corrected and even fat cells could be used up more quickly or removed. Even the deadliest pathogens and viruses could be combated and destroyed. Davis calculated that within 20 years, virtually all disease and infirmity would be removed from the human species and the environment thanks to the power of these nanites.

 

However, Davis and Ash had not been using that time to simply build their empire. While their company had been churning out products to be consumed they had also been working on secret projects of their own. Using Davis' knowledge of Skynet computational thought processes and Ash's ingenuity, they had been working hard to create an AI that could outperform and outthink Skynet itself. To that end, they had hired some of the best and brightest computer scientists in the world to build upon the AI construct that was the basis for Skynet. As Davis would introduce new concepts or specific routines that dealt with how Skynet would think, the scientists would quickly come up with alternatives that would not only counteract Skynet's thinking but make it more streamlined. The end result would be a super-AI that would be able to combat Skynet directly once introduced to it and eventually replace it. The AI would be absolutely loyal to humanity as a whole and would never allow itself to be subverted by another machine intelligence nor be manipulated by any human group wanting to use it for its own ends. Its ethical directives and framework were extremely complex and still allowed it to make decisions that would best serve its creators. To ensure their creation functioned properly, massive supercomputers were installed in a self-contained environment completely disconnected from the outside world. Once the AI was activated, it was given thousands of simulations on various ethical decisions and how best to combat various disasters, hijackings, hacking attempts, and even simulated attempts of destruction by its creators for no given reason other than their desire to do it. Every possible angle was analyzed and simulated to ensure the new AI could and would never become another Skynet. Davis himself had even gone head to head again the new system to see if it could outthink or outmaneuver it. Needless to say, Davis lost quite quickly to the new AI. Finally, the two had to come up with a name for it.

  

On December 25th, 2014, Heaven's Light became officially active.


End file.
